Everything you need to know about the Azzurri lock.

Born on 12 June 1980, Marco Bortolami has established himself as one of the stalwarts of Italian rugby. He has made countless appearances for his national team, as well as captaining them on more than one occasion. In fact, up until 2008, he was the regular skipper for the Azzurri.

Bortolami started his career with Padua and made his first start for his local team at just 18-years-old. With Padua regarded as one of the more successful clubs in Italy, it was no surprise when Bortolami was awarded a place in the Italy U21 squad not long after his domestic debut. In fact, his first full appearance came very quickly as well, with Bortolami aged just 20 when he took to the pitch to play for his county for the first time. What was certainly surprising was the rate in which Bortolami was named as captain for his country, with the player being named the youngster ever skipper of the nation at just 22-years-old.

Since his debut for the Italian national team, Bortolami has proceeded to make almost ninety international appearances. He has also seen his career advance significantly on a domestic level; moving from Padua to Narbonne, before then being transferred to English rugby giants Gloucester. It would be fair to say that he impressed immensely at Gloucester, once again taking the captains armband and helping the Kingsholm outfit to various successes.

At the moment, Bortolami finds himself playing for Italian side Aironi. Meanwhile, he is still a regular for his national team and is very likely to add to the 88 caps he currently has.